


Kyoho Season

by SamJoinedtheReconCorps



Category: Free!, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Cuties, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Implied Relationships, M/M, Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Trainers, swimmers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 15:02:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7366606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamJoinedtheReconCorps/pseuds/SamJoinedtheReconCorps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seijuro has always liked Gou - that's been a given since the first time he met her. However, he'd never really, ah, gotten around to asking her on a date. Until, after a sudden surge of courage hits him, he finally does ask her out - and she accepts. Only problem is that he wants to get her to fall in love with him.</p>
<p>So who does he go to? None other than love experts Nagisa Hazuki and Rei Ryuugazaki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kyoho Season

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back bitches - at 2:30 in the morning.
> 
> So this is sorta a sequel to a MakoHaru fic (Pokemon and Puppy Eyes) I wrote waaaay back in the day. This SeiGou fic takes place after that one, but it can definitely be read as a stand alone oneshot since it only lightly references the previous fic (even though, y'know you could just read Pokemon and Puppy Eyes just for the heck of it. Because, you know, gay swimmers in love)
> 
> Reigisa and Rintori are only implied, whilst MakoHaru actually does have some material. This is a fic that focuses completely on SeiGou.
> 
> I'd like to apologize in advance because I don't know anything about grapes or grape picking, so I sorta winged it.
> 
> I really do hope you guys like it though!

     Seijuro grinned at Rin, proud of how the team was doing under his leadership.

     “Boys aren’t giving you too much trouble, right?” he asked, watching as some team members swam laps around the pool, racing other team members and Pokémon alike.

     Rin shook his head, coming to stand beside his old captain. “Not at all, actually. They’re really hard working and are quick to fix their mistakes.” He put his hands behind his head with a smile, giving Seijuro a sideways glance, “They had a good captain who coached them before me.”

     “What _ ever _ ,” Seijuro laughed, clapping Rin on the back, cheeks tinting pink at the compliment. “I wasn’t any better than you’re doing now.”

     “I beg to differ - you were much more patient, and probably a little more loose than I am with them,” Rin said. “I feel kinda bad for them sometimes when -”

     A loud shout from the entrance to the complex cut Rin short.

     “RinRin!” Nagisa yelled, bounding up to Rin, Rei in tow.

     “Hey, Nagisa,” Rin smiled. He turned to Rei, nodding in greeting, before turning to the rest of the Iwatobi team and waving at them. “Glad you guys could make it,” Rin said to them once Makoto, Haru, and Gou had walked closer.

     “Thanks for inviting us, Rin,” Makoto answered. “Joint practices always seem to help both teams work better.”

     “And our Pokémon seem to enjoy having new friends to play with,” Rei commented, watching Haru’s Greninja already sliding into the pool while his Espeon and Nagisa’s Buizel chased each other near the entrance.

     “Alright, alright, enough fraternizing with the enemy, fish brains,” Gou interrupted, coming to stand by her brother and looking towards the four Iwatobi boys. “You guys are here to practice, not dwaddle. Now hurry and get changed and into the pool before I start to reconsider these ‘joint practices.’”

     “Yes, ma’am,” Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei said in unison. Haru only raised his eyebrows, his way of telling Gou he’d understood. They walked towards the locker rooms, where Nitori was waving enthusiastically at them.

     Gou and Rin watched them until they disappeared through the door.

     “You’ve really got them on a short leash, don’t you?” Rin laughed.

     She shrugged. “It's what you’ve gotta do when their brains are all waterlogged.” She finally gave her brother a warm smile in greeting, one she’d forgotten to give him when they’d first arrived at Samezuka’s pool.

     That’s when she noticed the older swimmer standing beside her brother.

     “Seijuro? What’re you doing here?” she asked. She hadn’t seen him since the Samezuka barbecue over the summer, which had been a sort of goodbye for all the third years that’d just graduated.

     Seijuro jumped, not having expected Gou to even notice him, let alone talk to him. He’d immediately noticed her though - it was hard to miss her, even in a crowd. “H-hey, G-Kou,” he stuttered out, quickly correcting himself to call her the way she liked to be called. “I just thought I’d drop by and see how your brother was taking care of Samezuka.”

     “Well that’s nice of you,” Gou smiled. “Coming in to check that my brother doesn’t muck things up,” she added with a smirk.

     “No, I don’t care if Rin mucks things up -” he quickly said, stopping halfway through his sentence. He turned to Rin, giving him a panicked look.

     Rin only raised an eyebrow, trying to hide his amused smirk at seeing him floundering with his conversation with Gou.

     “I-I didn’t mean to say you were messing up Rin, that came out wrong - I know you’re doing a great job -” He cut himself off again, closing his eyes and taking a frustrated breath. “What I meant to say was,” he began, opening his gold eyes, “that I’m just here to see the swim team.” He shrugged, his gaze dropping to the ground, “I’ve missed them.”

     Gou exchanged a glance with her brother, both of their expressions softening at Seijuro’s admission.

     “Well, we’ve all missed you, too,” Rin said, bumping his shoulder to Seijuro’s. He smiled at his old captain, before looking out and seeing that Makoto, Haru, Rei, and Nagisa were out and ready to practice with the Samezuka team.

     Seijuro followed Rin’s gaze, also watching the Iwatobi boys. He remembered them well - they were all pretty cool dudes. The Iwatobi captain - Makoto, if he wasn’t mistaken - was fussing over the quiet, blue haired boy for some reason, even going to the extent of fastening the other boy’s goggles on.

     The boy waved his hands away, a small smile playing on his lips. He said something, unheard to them given that they were on the other side of the pool, but apparently it was something worth hearing given Makoto’s reaction. He blushed bright red, stammering out a response, before the other boy stood on his tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, effectively silencing him.

     Rin rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. “I better get going or these guys won’t ever start swimming,” he said, snapping his goggles into place. “I’ll catch you guys later!”

     Seijuro stood rooted to the spot, confused about the obvious display of affection from the two Iwatobi swimmers. He slowly pointed over at them, as if unsure whether he should call attention to it or not. “Are they…”

     “Hm?” Gou asked, having not really noticed anything strange with the scene. Nagisa and Rei had been laughing with Nitori about something, and she knew Seijuro didn’t mind them. Besides, she’d been around Makoto and Haru since before they’d even gotten together, so she didn’t feel like them kissing was anything to comment on -

     “Oh - oh!,” Gou started laughing, realizing what Seijuro had been asking about. “Yeah, yeah, they got together this summer. No wonder you don’t know about it - you’ve been gone for a while now.” She suddenly stopped laughing, turning a little suspicious, “it doesn’t make you uncomfortable or anything, right?” She was at the ready to jump to her friends’ defense if need be, and would definitely ask her brother to kick Seijuro out if he reacted like a jackass to Makoto and Haru’s relationship.

     “What? No - no,” Seijuro quickly began, “it’s just, yeah, it caught me a little off guard. I really  _ have  _ been gone if those two finally got their act together and started dating.” He shook his head with a smile, “I’m happy for them. It was super obvious that they liked each other, and I mean I only ever saw them at joint practices and competitions.”

     Gou’s smile returned tenfold, as she looked back at her swimmers. They were swimming laps now, Makoto’s Horsea and Rin’s Basculin joining in on their treks back and forth across the pool. “Lucky you only saw them a couple of times then - trust me, the sexual tension was killing all of us.”

     Seijuro laughed. “So what, they just up and figured it out one day or something?” He liked seeing Gou like this, all smiles and laughs - she usually was only like this around her friends. He really hoped that he could count himself as her friend some day.

     She shook her head. “Nope - it took a Rin, Rei, and Nagisa - and a Luvdisc - to get them to finally see what was so obvious to everyone else.”

     He raised an eyebrow. “A Luvdisc?”

     “It's a long story,” Gou shrugged.

     A sudden bout of confidence surged through Seijuro. “How about you tell me over a cup of coffee?”

     Gou blinked, not having expected the proposal.

     Seijuro was still smiling at her, his sudden bout of confidence quickly being replaced by panic, thinking that maybe he’d pushed his luck just a bit  _ too _ much that day. He’d already been blessed with seeing Gou - and even getting the chance to talk to her - he didn’t have to go mess that up by asking her out on a -

     “Okay,” Gou answered.

     His thoughts all came to a screeching halt. “Huh?” he asked, unsure if he’d heard her correctly.

     She nodded, “Coffee sounds nice. We can catch up and you can tell me how you’ve been and everything.” 

     He couldn’t believe his ears; she’d actually accepted to go out on a date with him. He felt like he was on cloud nine, as if he were floating - 

     Gou snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Mikoshiba, c’mon, don’t space out on me like that.”

     “I’m sorry - just, what, what were you saying?”  _ Smooth, Seijuro _ , he silently chastised.

     She tilted her head to the side, eyeing him curiously. “I was just saying that you’re studying somewhere else, aren’t you?”

     He shrugged in response, “It's about an hour’s drive. Not too far.” He got back to what they’d just agreed on. “So, coffee?”

     “Mmhm,” Gou hummed, turning back to watch the practice. She was the Iwatobi team’s manager after all, so she sorta had to pay attention.

     Seijuro watched her, feeling like all the luck in the world had just been given to him for this one conversation. He’d scored a date with Gou! Now all he had to do was impress her and get her to like him back and -

     He stopped, feeling as if he’d hit a wall. If he was honest with himself, he genuinely didn’t ever believe he’d get this far - so he hadn’t planned ahead at all. He had no idea how he’d woo her or win her over or any of that.

     With a sigh, he already found himself resigning to the fact that his relationship with Gou would peak at this date, when unbidden, he suddenly had an idea.

     “So matchmakers Rin, Rei, and Nagisa, huh?” he grinned, looking at Gou with a new sparkle in his eyes.

     “Yep,” she laughed, her eyes never leaving the team. “They were great! I’m pretty sure they could match up anyone if they really set their mind to it.”

_      Well let’s hope they set their mind to this _ , he thought, feeling as if maybe luck was going to be with him a second time.

* * *

 

     “So you’ve been meaning to talk to us?” Nagisa asked, plopping down on Haru’s couch.

     Y’know, because before Seijuro went out for coffee with Gou, he had to have breakfast with the Iwatobi boys.

     Which is why Seijuro now found himself at Haru’s house that following Saturday.

     He nodded. “Yeah, I was ah,” he scratched the back of his head, suddenly shy about his request and how Rei and Nagisa might take it. “Well, um, I was wondering,” he leaned closer to them, lowering his voice, “okay, is it true that you guys helped get Makoto and Haru together?”

     Nagisa grinned. “Of course it’s true! We’re the best matchmakers around!” He wiggled his eyebrows, “Why don’t you just ask our satisfied customers? Makoto! Haru!”

     They both peeked their heads out from the kitchen, where they were busy preparing breakfast for the five of them.

     “Yeah, Nagisa?” Makoto asked.

     “Aren’t you and Haru very, very happy now that you guys are together?” Nagisa’s smile widened, knowing what their answers would be.

     Surprisingly though, it was Haru who beat Makoto to answering the question.

     “Of course we’re very, very happy,” Haru deadpanned. “We’re in love and we’re together. Why wouldn’t we be happy?”

     Rei waved Haru’s question aside. “Nagisa was just asking - y’know, he never gets tired of seeing you both so happy.”

     Makoto smiled at Nagisa. “Aw, that’s sweet, Nagisa.” Haru frowned, and Makoto noticed. “Well, not as sweet as Haru, obviously,” he added, giving Haru a peck on the cheek.

     And with that they both returned to the kitchen, Haru blushing a light pink and with a smile on his face, and Makoto cheerily linking arms with him.

     “See, best matchmakers around,” Nagisa declared.

     “Nagisa, please don’t forget that Rin was also a part of this,” Rei reminded him.

     “I know, I know, don’t worry Rei, I’d never forget RinRin.” Nagisa suddenly turned back to Seijuro. “Why the question, though?” He grinned. “You here to tell us you want us to help you get Rin and Nitori together?”

     “Wh-what?” Seijuro stammered, caught off guard by the question. “No - no, I’m not here about Rin and Nitori.”  _ Even though those two probably needed to get together too, now that he thought about it… _

     He shook his head, trying to get back to what he wanted to ask Rei and Nagisa.

     “I’m, ah, I’m actually here to see if maybe you two could help me…?” Seijuro asked, his voice almost growing smaller as he continued talking.

     “It’s with Gou, isn’t it?” Rei quickly shot out, knowing full well that the old Samezuka captain was definitely still head over heels for Rin’s little sister.

     When Seijuro didn’t answer, Nagisa squealed with excitement.

     “Aw, does Sei have a crush on our little Gou?” Nagisa asked, giggling with glee. He then tried his best to turn serious, waggling a finger at Seijuro, “Gou is our friend and manager, and we see her as a little sister, too, so you better take good care of her.”

     Seijuro grimaced. “That’s why I came specifically to you two, and not to Rin. He’d probably kill me if he found out I liked his sister.”

     Nagisa broke away from the conversation for a few seconds, pulling out his phone and sending a quick text, then he dove towards Seijuro and gave him a giant hug. “Well, as Gou’s honorary older brother, welcome to the family.” He pulled away, “You’re a really cool guy, Sei, you and Gou would be great together, right Rei?”

     Rei nodded, reflexively pushing up his glasses. “Nagisa’s right, Seijuro. You’re a smart, nice, and educated man.” He looked him up and down, “And relatively handsome, although I wouldn’t say beautiful, because that might be a stretch -”

     “But I’m beautiful, aren’t I?” Nagisa asked, trying to pull Rei’s attention back to him.

     He smiled fondly at him, “I think cute’s a better word to use to describe you.”

     “Oh, Rei,” Nagisa wrinkled his nose at him, sticking out his tongue, “that’s what you say to a little kid, or to your Pokémon.”

     Seijuro coughed a little, trying to will them to get the conversation back to what had been keeping him up at night since Wednesday.

     Turning back to him, Nagisa cocked his head to the side with a big smile. “So you want us to get Gou to go on a date with you?”

     He shook his head. “I’ve actually already asked her out on a date, and she said yes.”

     Nagisa nodded, impressed.

     “Then, what  _ do _ you want us to help you with?” Rei asked, unsure now of what Seijuro was asking.

     “I was hoping you guys could help me get her to like me back - I-I know that’s asking for a lot but, I don’t know, maybe you guys can work some matchmaker magic or something -”

     Seijuro was rambling, and he knew it, so when Nagisa placed a gentle hand on his arm, he felt like he could finally bring himself to stop.

     “We’ll help you,” Nagisa said.

     “You will?” Seijuro asked, already thanking luck and fate and the universe for them even considering to help him.

     “Of course we will,” Rei chimed in. He put a hand to his chin, looking down as he started thinking. “Gou seems to already like you as a person, and she has talked about you to us before -”

     “Wait, seriously? What’s she said?” Seijuro hadn’t expected Gou to ever so much as remember that he existed.

     “It was just in passing,” Rei shrugged apologetically, “nothing I can really recall…”

     Seijuro slumped a bit, looking put out. “It’s okay - I honestly never thought she’d ever even waste her breath on my name.”

     Nagisa poked his side. “Don’t be so down like that! We’ll get Gou to like you, just leave it to the experts -”

     Just then, Haru’s front door burst open, showing a frantic Nitori and a disgruntled Sousuke.

     “Nagisa, I got your text - is Haru okay? I didn’t tell Rin about his accident just like you said so he wouldn’t get worried, but I brought Sousuke because he said he could help and -” Nitori stopped to take a breath, doubling over from the exertion of probably having run all the steps up to Haru’s house.

     “Nitori, you’re finally here!” Nagisa exclaimed, jumping up from his place on the couch and bounding over to the door. “Hey, Sousuke, I’m happy Nitori thought of bringing you here too!”

     “How is Nanase?” Sousuke asked, looking around to see if he could find Haru.

     Nagisa was about to answer when said aforementioned teen walked out from the kitchen. “I’m doing good, Yamazaki, thanks for asking.” He looked back to the rest of the group. “Breakfast’s ready.”

     Makoto looked out to welcome their new arrivals. “Oh, Sousuke, Nitori! I’ll set plates out for you right now, I hope you guys like scrambled eggs.”

     “And mackerel,” Haru called out, back in the kitchen.

     “And sausage, not everyone likes mackerel with every meal, Haru,” Makoto chastised, before their conversation was drowned out by their antics in the kitchen.

     Nitori had stared at Haru as if he’d grown a second head.

     “Haru wasn’t in an accident, was he?” Nitori didn’t look at Nagisa as he asked, still staring at the kitchen door.

     “Nope, our Haru is safe and sound, and as whole as can be,” Nagisa replied happily.

     “There isn’t an emergency, is there?” Nitori asked, his eyes still on the kitchen door.

     “See,” Nagisa began, playing with his fingers. “About that, Nitori, well, what we’ve got here’s a,” he struck a pose, breaking into jazz hands, “love emergency.”

     “That’s not a real emergency,” Nitori deadpanned, finally turning to Nagisa.

     “Well, it might not be an emergency, but we need help,” he nodded towards the redhead on the couch, “more specifically, your old captain needs help.”

      Nitori blinked, just noticing that Seijuro was in the room, “Captain Mikoshiba? Is something wrong?”

     “Just call me Sei, Nitori, we’re friends,” Seijuro lightly scolded. He felt the butterflies suddenly surge to his stomach as he thought about what he needed help with. “And nothing’s wrong, so don’t worry. I just want help with - IjustwanttogetKoutolikeme.”

     “What?” both Nitori and Sousuke asked, not having understood at all what he needed help with.

     Rei sighed. “Seijuro wants us to help him get Gou to like him.”

     Nitori’s expression softened. “You finally doing something about those feelings, Captain?”

     “Better late than never, right?” Seijuro said with a small smile.

     “Better late than having your brother get the girl’s more like it,” Sousuke smirked, crossing his arms.

     “Huh?” Seijuro asked, not knowing what Sousuke meant. “What’s Momo got to do with this?”

     Sousuke chuckled, shaking his head. “You Mikoshibas have the same taste, it seems - Momo thinks Gou’s really cute, too.”

     Seijuro immediately jumped to his feet. “That’s not fair, I met her first and she even accepted to go out on a date with me -”

     “You asked Gou out?” Nitori exclaimed.

     “Y-yes,” Seijuro answered, feeling a little more confident the more he talked, “and she said yes.”

     “Well, looks like you’re already one-upping your brother - the most Gou ever does with him is maybe give him a pat on the head or something.” Sousuke shrugged, “I was mostly joking about Momo - he only thinks she’s cute, and you can tell that Gou doesn’t like him like that.”

     “Wait so is this why you didn’t want us to tell Rin?” Nitori asked, turning to Nagisa.

     He nodded vigorously. “RinRin might not like his old captain trying to date his sister.”

     “Oh, is Seijuro finally asking Gou out?” Makoto asked, coming out of the kitchen with Haru. Since no one was coming in for breakfast, they decided to see what all the fuss was about.

     “Was I really that obvious?” Seijuro sighed, sitting back down and putting his head in his hands.

     “Still are, buddy,” Makoto patted him on the back.

     “Just be careful with Rin,” Haru warned. “He knows Gou is very independent, but don’t think he isn’t protective of her.”

     Sousuke nodded in agreement. “Nanase’s right - so if you’re thinking about going out with Gou, you need to treat her right. You don’t want Rin coming after you with those shark teeth of his.”

     Everyone grew silent for a minute, shuddering at the thought of the damage that Rin could cause Seijuro with those shark teeth that he had.

     “But, does that mean that you guys will help us with Sei…?” Nagisa pressed, going over to Sousuke and poking his side.

     Sousuke smiled, shrugging. “I don’t see why not. Rin might not like the idea at first, but he’ll have to warm up to it. As his best friend and basically another older brother for Gou, you have my blessing, Mikoshiba.”

     “That’s what I told him earlier!” Nagisa exclaimed.

     “Yeah, but I’m more of an older brother to Gou than you are,” Sousuke laughed.

     Seijuro turned to the group, to all the smiling, encouraging faces and felt so grateful that he had such an amazing group of friends.

     “You guys are the best - I’m so glad you guys are willing to help me,” he grinned.

     Nagisa shrugged, “It’s what friends are for, Sei.”

     Rei nodded. “Besides, now that we know that Sousuke and Nitori’ll help, I think I might have a plan…”

* * *

 

     “How’s your sister been doing? I hear she’s started studying a little closer to home.”

     And here was the beginning of the 3 part plan to get Gou to fall in love with Seijuro.

     Part 1: establish whether Gou had any feelings for Seijuro in the first place. This was a pivotal part to getting her to like Seijuro, because if it were determined that she had no feelings whatsoever for him, then the rest of the plan would be pointless and Seijuro would have to accept that he and Gou were not meant to be. However, everyone had their hopes, which is why the Iwatobi boys were going to find out how she felt - and why Nagisa and Rei were going to see whether Gou would jealously rise to the bait.

     “Oh, Nanako? Yeah, she’s going to a school in the next town over,” Nagisa said, answering Rei’s question.

     They - along with Gou - were in their club room, tweaking some plans for another training camp trip to the beach. Like always though, their “planning” had devolved into gossip and games, or in Nagisa and Rei’s case, getting the ball rolling.

     Rei nodded, as if considering what Nagisa said. He scratched his head. “Doesn’t Momo’s older brother go there?”

     Nagisa grinned, “Sei? Geez, Nanako absolutely loves him! Whenever she’s in town it's always ‘Mikoshiba this and Mikoshiba that’ - you can tell that she’d love to get to know him better.”

     Gou stiffened where she’d been sitting with their back to them, idly doodling in a notebook.

     The boys exchanged a look, feeling as if they might be onto something.

     “Why doesn’t your sister just ask Mikoshiba out? He’s a nice guy, and probably a lot of fun, too,” Rei commented.

     “Maybe I should suggest it to her,” Nagisa mused, glancing over at Gou. He saw that she’d put her pencil down, and was listening with rapt attention to their conversation. “I don’t know how girls work though, so, I don’t know - wait, Gou! Gou, do you think my sister should ask Sei out on a date?”

     Gou jumped, not expecting to have been addressed. She hummed in response, trying to act like she hadn’t heard what they’d been talking about. “What’s that about your sister?”

     “I think Nanko likes Seijuro, y’know, Samezuka’s last captain,” Nagisa said, acting as if he were reminding Gou of someone she might have forgotten.

     “Seijuro, huh?” she feigned to be deep in thought, trying to keep the small tint of red from crawling up her cheeks, “I remember him, yeah. So your sister likes him?”

     “Mmhm,” Nagisa nodded, “and I think she should ask him out on a date.”

     Gou grimaced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Seijuro’s super sweet, and really nice and cool, and he’s got arms that are nothing I’ve ever seen before -” she cut herself off, blushing with embarrassment at the way she’d started swooning over him. She cleared her throat, “but I don’t think that he’s looking to date anyone right now.”

     “What!” Nagisa exclaimed, “A guy like him! Not looking to date  _ anyone _ !”

     Rei frowned. “What makes you say that, Gou?” Then, an idea came to Rei. “Wait - does he have a girlfriend already?”

     “No - no, no, Seijuro does  _ not  _ have a girlfriend.” She suddenly frowned, feeling unsure.  _ What if he does have a girlfriend _ , she anxiously thought.  _ Then he wouldn’t have asked you out on a date, stupid, now stop worrying about  _ that _ in particular _ , came her reassuring afterthought. She shook her head. “Nope, no it’s not that. I just think it’d be best to maybe just let Seijuro ask her, if anything.”  _ Boom, now I don’t seem like a jerk  _ and  _ these dirt brains won’t suspect a thing, plus Nagisa won’t suggest to Nanako that she should ask Seijuro out. Everyone wins! _

     Nagisa pretended to be put out. “Well, hopefully Seijuro notices my sister and gets to asking her out.”

     Gou forced a smile. “Yeah, hopefully.”  _ And hopefully that thought never crosses his mind. _ She stood up, tucking her notebook in her bag, “I should get going. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

     As she walked out, Nagisa and Rei high-fived, feeling as if they’d accomplished what they’d set out to.

     “She was soooo jealous,” Nagisa laughed.

     “This might prove to be a little easier than we’d thought,” Rei smiled, Nagisa’s laughter putting him in a better mood than he’d already been.

     So, for the rest of the week, the boys messed around with Gou. Makoto brought up Seijuro at the randomest times, asking Gou if she remembered any of his old training regimes to see if they could help their own team, and then he’d ask about Seijuro himself and Gou would unwittingly reveal a little more about how she felt for Sei every time she’d answer.

     Rei and Nagisa continued to wear her down in the jealousy department, saying they’d seen Seijuro with other girls or that Momo had gossiped that Seijuro might like a girl he knew. Gou would force politeness when included in the conversations, but it was obvious that they were grating for her, as her comments grew more and more clipped and even biting at times. They paid it no mind, however, and just trudged along, trying to stifle their giggles if she ever got particularly jealous.

     Haru, on the other hand, bad-mouthed Seijuro whenever he had the chance. Gou would at first jokingly reprimand him and subtly defend Seijuro, but as Haru’s comments grew more and more dry, so did Gou’s defense of Sei, until it grew to the point where that Thursday she almost threw Haru into the pool when he started talking shit about Mikoshiba.

     The boys couldn’t have been more satisfied with the way things were going. If parts 2 and 3 went well, then by the end of all this, matchmakers Rei and Nagisa would be able to say that they had set up 2 cute couples, and had 4 happy customers to vouch for the effectiveness of their meddling.

* * *

 

     He could see Gou standing out on her front porch, bag slung over her shoulder as she casually played on her phone. Seijuro felt himself start smiling, completely excited for the rest of the day.

     She hadn’t even noticed him, so he just took in the sight, feeling relieved that he hadn’t underdressed for the occasion. She was wearing capris and a loose-fitting tank top, and her hair was tied back in her signature ponytail. In short, she looked as stunning as ever.

     Seijuro had been stressing all morning - and for the better part of the week, if he was honest with himself - on what he should wear for his Saturday date with Gou. In the end, he’d settled on shorts and a t-shirt, a royal blue shirt with a swordfish on it. He felt proud of himself, feeling as if he’d made the right call with how he’d dressed.

     Clearing his throat, he called out a greeting. “Hey, Kou!”

     Gou looked up, putting her phone in her pocket. “Seijuro, you’re here - and at 2:30 sharp, very punctual!” she bounded down the couple of steps that led to her house to meet him on the sidewalk. “Are we really going Kyoho picking?” she asked excitedly.

     He nodded, trying to keep his own giant smile under control after seeing Gou looking so cute and happy. “They’re in season right now, and the vineyard a little out of town is letting anyone who comes to pick as many grapes as they’d like.”

     “That’s so cool of them,” she gushed, falling into step beside him as they started walking toward the train station. “If Rin’d known that I was going out Kyoho picking with you, he probably would have canceled the joint practice with Iwatobi today just to come, too.”

     And so part 2 of the 3 part plan to win over Gou was underway: keep Rin distracted.

     Makoto had scheduled the joint practice from 2 to 5 that day, which wasn’t strange for a Saturday practice, but it definitely meant that it’d keep Rin away from them for at least a few hours. Then, the baton would be passed to Sousuke and Nitori, and they’d make sure that Rin was busy for the remainder of the date.

     “We’ll pick enough grapes so that you can bring some home to Rin, sound good?” Seijuro said.

     Gou linked her arm with his, trying to ignore the flutters in her stomach as she did so and completely missing the way Seijuro blushed almost as bright red as his hair. “I know, but honestly, I might end up eating all of them - Kyoho are like my absolute favorite.”

     Seijuro silently congratulated himself. Last year, he remembered that whenever he went grocery shopping with Rin, Rin would always buy a bunch of Kyoho grapes - no matter how expensive they were. When asked about it, Rin had just smiled, saying that Gou loved the grapes to bits, and that he would use them as currency sometimes if he wanted Gou to run errands for him or if he simply wanted to treat her to her favorite food. Seijuro had made a mental note of that, and here he was thankful for going grocery shopping with Rin so often and for paying enough attention to remember the fact.

     “How long will it take us to get to the farm?” Gou asked.

     “Probably about 15 minutes - a 10 minute train ride, and a short walk to finally get to the farm,” Seijuro replied.

     “Well, I can’t wait,” Gou grinned, playfully bumping her shoulder against Seijuro’s arm.

     He smiled at her as they boarded the train, falling into comfortable conversation for the duration of the ride.

     Part 3 of the 3 part plan to woo Gou had officially begun: make sure the date goes phenomenally well.

     Seijuro could only hope that it would as the train pulled up to their stop and they got off, walking the short distance to the farm to finally get to pick Kyoho.

     A nice, elderly woman greeted them at the entrance, handing them a few baskets and saying that they were welcome to get as many grapes as they pleased.

     Gou, dragging Seijuro by the arm, all but ran into the vineyard, only dropping Sei’s arm when they got to a grape row that she liked.

     “I haven’t done this since I was a kid!” she thought back, remembering when her father would bring Rin and her grape picking.

     “I’ve actually  _ never  _ done this,” Seijuro confessed, setting the baskets down.

     “You don’t know what you’re missing out on, Sei,” she started rummaging through her bag, still talking all the while. “It's a little tedious, yeah, but I feel like grapes are so much better when you’ve picked them yourself. It’s satisfying to know that you’ve put work into them, y’know? Even if it is only the picking part of the work.”

     “Makes sense,” Seijuro agreed, feeling Gou’s excitement begin to infect him as well. He pulled out his Pokéballs from his pocket, releasing his Pokémon so that they could have fun, too.

     Gou seemed to have had the same idea as she finally pulled out her Pokéballs with a flourish, tossing them into the air and releasing her own Pokémon.

     Their Pokémon all blinked blearily, looking around and getting accustomed to the sunshine. Seijuro clapped his hands to get their attention.

     “Okay, guys, so we’re here to go Kyoho picking,” he said with a big smile, extending his arms to motion to the vineyard. His Pokémon stared at him uncomprehendingly whilst Gou’s Pokémon noticeable perked up when he said “Kyoho”.

     Gou knelt down, addressing her Pokémon at eye level. “You guys remember all those grapes Rin brings us, right?” Her Buneary and Squirtle nodded, whilst Pidgeotto clucked loudly in what was probably agreement. “Well, we’re here to pick some of our own.” She tucked a flyaway hair behind her ear. “So, just help out Sei’s Pokémon, okay?”

     They nodded, immediately starting to chatter amongst themselves as Seijuro passed out baskets. He gave one to his Dewott and to his Monferno, and also to Gou’s Timburr, leaving one for himself and another for Gou. The Pokémon then wandered off, his Dewott leading his Emolga and her Vulpix and Squirtle, whilst her Timburr led her Sylveon and his Eevee and Electrike and his Monferno led his Totodile, and her Buneary and Pidgeotto.

     They all picked grapes quietly for a while, gently tugging them off the vine before putting them in their basket. Dewott, Totodile, and Squirtle had even started to wash the grapes they’d already picked so that the group could snack on them while they worked.

     “You having fun?” Gou asked, standing up to peek at Sei over the grape row that separated them.

     “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Seijuro answered from where he was kneeling, hands stained purple as he pulled a few grapes from the vines.

     “Well, I’m having loads of fun - I just want to know that you’re enjoying yourself, too,” Gou said. “I don’t want you to be  _ not  _ having fun.”

     “I’m having fun, too,” Seijuro grinned, looking up at Gou with a smile that made her chest flutter.

     “Good, good,” she replied, giving him a smile of her own. Squirtle came around from where he’d been washing grapes, and tugged on Gou’s free hand. She looked over to see that he was holding three grapes that he’d washed, just for her. She smiled, giving it a kiss on the forehead and thanking it, before popping a grape in her mouth, watching Squirtle waddle back to where he’d been.

     Seijuro had seen the whole thing, and the tenderness he’d seen in her expression when she’d been with her Pokémon made him want to pick her up and twirl her around in a big hug. He quickly stood up from where he’d seen them through the grapevines, only to see that Gou was holding out her remaining two grapes for him to take.

     “Feel special, I don’t share my food with anyone,” she said.

     He shook his head, starting to feel a little bad. “Kou, this is super fun and all, but I find that these grapes are a little too bitter for my taste.”

     She frowned, narrowing her eyes. “It’s the skin, isn’t it?”

     “What?” he asked, not sure what she was even asking.

     “It’s the grape skin,” she repeated. “That’s what you feel is bitter.”

     “I mean, I guess? Is that what makes them bitter?” He wasn’t an expert on grapes, and just avoided the Kyoho because of it's bitter taste.

     She sighed. “Gimme a minute.”

     He watched her curiously as she walked up and down the row, stooping down at times with a smile before shaking her head and getting up again. Suddenly, she cheered, bending over and plucking one single, plump grape.

     “I’ll be right back,” she said, grinning in a way that showed that she was very much proud of herself.

     She ran over to their water Pokémon for a few seconds, then ran back, holding her hand out to Seijuro. “Try this one - you’ll like it, I promise.”

     He hesitantly took the grape, only doing it because Gou had taken the trouble of finding it for him. She nodded encouragingly at him, willing him to just put it in his mouth already.

     Hoping that he wouldn’t make a face at what he knew was a bitter taste, he put the grape in his mouth, and bit down.

     Sure, he’d expected the initial sting of bitterness, but he hadn’t expected it to fade so quickly and be replaced by such a sweet and tender taste. The grape was so soft and juicy - something he didn’t think he’d ever had whenever he had had Kyoho grapes.

     “Oh my God - it's delicious!”

     Gou smirked, crossing her arms. “Told you so.” She took his hand, tugging him after her, “You’ve just gotta know how to pick them.”

     If the delicious grape had completely surprised him, Gou holding his hand had almost short circuited his brain. Her hand was soft, yet firm, and it was everything he’d ever imagined holding hands with her would be - not that he’d ever put that much thought into it.

     She didn’t even notice her bold move at taking his hand, instead feeling an odd sense of belonging when she twined their fingers together.

     “All you have to do is find the grapes that seem the shiniest and juiciest and pick them,” she said, looking back at Seijuro over her shoulder. He nodded, not trusting his voice just yet. “Look, here’s a good bunch right here!” She pulled his hand towards the grapevine, guiding his fingers around the grapes. “And that’s how you -” She began, turning towards Seijuro.

     Her breath caught in her throat, not having realized how close they were. She could see the warm, golden hue of his eyes, which were wide open, and she felt as if their proximity was drawing her even closer to him.

     Seijuro had already been counting today as a win, given how much fun he was having with Gou - and when she had held his hand, Seijuro was almost positive that he would’ve been able to die happy. But having her here, this close to him, made him want to pull her into a kiss, and let her know exactly how he felt about her. She looked beautiful, her dark red hair framing her face, and her bright red eyes never wavering from his own. Except when they flicked down.

     It was for maybe a split second, but Seijuro could have sworn he saw it. Her eyes had glanced down at his lips, before she started blushing a bright pink.

     “W-we still have to go grab that coffee, don’t we?” she squeaked out, breaking the moment.

     “Yeah - yeah, we do.” He ran a hand through his hair, stepping away from Gou without looking at her. “I’m a - I’m sorry about that -”

     “Oh, no it’s okay,” Gou quickly said. “It’s okay,” she repeated, still blushing a little pink, and averting his gaze. Before Sei could even respond, Gou had turned around on the spot, still feeling embarrassed that they’d been  _ that _ close but she’d just had to mess it up with how nervous she was. “Guys! It’s time to go!”

     Their Pokémon all came back, having eaten their fill of grapes. Altogether, they’d collected about two entire basketfuls - not counting the ones they’d already eaten. Gou brought out a burlap sack from her bag, having known that they were going to need it later.

     “Jeez, good call,” Seijuro said. “I honestly don’t know how we would’ve carried these back had you not brought the sack.”

     Gou smiled as she began dumping the grapes into it. “I’ve done this before, so I knew what to bring.” She smirked at him, “Good thing I could apparently smell the rookie on you - I would’ve never thought you’d never been out here before, but for some reason I just knew that I should bring this,” she lifted up the now full - and heavy - sack.

     “Here - I’ve got it,” Sei offered, taking the sack from Gou’s hands and slinging it over his shoulder. He then took out his Pokéballs, calling back all his Pokémon. Gou quickly followed suit.

     They then walked out of the farm, thanking the older woman at the door again. She only smiled, telling them that a lovely couple like them could come back any time, to which Gou stuttered out a hasty explanation that they were only just friends whilst Seijuro tried to keep his raging blush under control.

     The walk and the train ride back into town was more than comfortable - and fun. They kept throwing grapes at each other to see who could catch the most in their mouth. Gou won, 13 to 9.

     Making their way to the more bustling part of town, they finally had their long awaited coffee, and a few sweets from the shop. They talked for a while, Gou giving him a play by play of Nagisa, Rei, and Rin’s meddling in Haru and Makoto’s relationship (a play by play that had already been given to him by Nagisa, but Gou didn’t have to know that). Then he told her about how school was going, and how most of his classes had fallen on just three days of the week, leaving his other four days open, which was why he was in Iwatobi so often. She’d seemed happy to find out that he’d be coming down a lot more now that he’d gotten a hang of his schedule, a fact that Seijuro noticed and hoped meant that Gou might like him back.

     After they’d eaten and were walking out, Seijuro checked his watch: 5:46 pm. Right about now Nitori and Sousuke were off somewhere keeping Rin busy, making sure he came nowhere near finding out about his date with Gou. Not wanting the evening to end, he gently prodded Gou’s side.

     “You want to go to the park?” he asked when she turned to look at him.

     She shrugged, “The park sounds nice, so why not.”

     They started walking - a bit closer to each other than was strictly necessary for friends - and enjoyed the amiable silence that had fallen between them. The park was only a few blocks away, just across the plaza and a couple of streets down. They’d just passed one of the many back alleys of the shops when a loud voice interrupted them.

     “Hey bitch, what’s in the bag?”

     Gou stiffened up immediately, her hand shooting out to Seijuro’s and taking a firm hold. Her steps, however, never faltered, and she continued walking without looking at the speaker.

     Seijuro tried hard to mimic her, the butterflies from holding her hand feeling a little muted compared to the sudden anger and annoyance that flashed within him at hearing someone talk to Gou like that.

     It seemed as if the situation was just going to die at the comment when Gou was harshly pulled back.

     “I said what’s in the bag,” the guy repeated, having grabbed Gou’s bag and pulling it - and Gou - towards him.

     Seijuro wheeled around, never letting go of Gou’s hand. He immediately pulled her back towards him, putting her behind him and effectively placing himself between her and the asshole that’d taken her bag.

     “Give me the bag,” Seijuro growled, voice dangerously low.

     The guy smirked, having been joined by a friend of his that Seijuro and Gou hadn’t seen. “Or what?”

     Seijuro balled his hands at his side. “You don’t want to know - now give me the bag.”

     He wrinkled his nose, turning back to the one who had Gou’s bag before turning his gaze back to Seijuro. “Nah, I think we’ll just go buy ourselves something to eat, your girl’s treat.”

     “Fine,” Gou said from behind Seijuro. He turned back to her, surprised, and the guys harassing them also seemed to be having a hard time understanding what they’d just heard.

     “Gou, you can’t just let these jerks go.” Seijuro tried pulling away from her, ready to beat the crap out of them and just get her things back so that they could go back to their perfect date.

     She stopped him, squeezing his hand; however, her eyes were on their attackers. “You guys can take my bag - if you beat us in a battle.”

     The guy’s friend grinned, raising an eyebrow. “Alright, cupcake, you’ve got yourself a deal. Yoshi and I can handle you two.”

     “I can always respect a good battle,” Yoshi - the one who had Gou’s bag - agreed.

     “What are you doing -” Seijuro asked.

     “Getting my shit back,” Gou growled, her eyes flashing as she observed the guys in front of them. “Squirtle, I choose you.”

     Her bag shook in Yoshi’s grip, before Squirtle was released, coming to stand in front of Gou. He looked around, as if assessing the situation, before also glaring at the guys.

     Seijuro pulled out one of his own Pokéballs, throwing it in the air to show that he’d released Electrike. It sniffed the air, before growling at Yoshi and his friend.

     “So a two on two, eh Krick?” Yoshi grinned.

     “We’ll have ourselves a nice free meal by the end of all this - and a pretty nice bag to sell.” Krick threw out a Pokéball. “This’ll be child’s play for Sableye.”

     “Kricketune, don’t let Sableye have all the fun,” Yoshi said.

     Their Pokémon looked at Squirtle and Electrike as if they were their next meal.

     Gou was having none of that.

     “Squirtle,  _ Rapid Spin _ at Kricketune!”

     As soon as he heard her command, Squirtle withdrew in his shell, spinning at a ferocious speed, hitting Kricketune.

     “Counter with a  _ Fury Cutter _ ,” Yoshi shouted.

     Kricketune did just so, but it didn’t affect Squirtle much as he was in his shell.

     “ _ Shadow Claw!  _ Now!”

     Sableye knew who to attack, jumping onto Squirtle’s still spinning shell and scratching at it. This attack did land, given that Sableye’s claws were made of shadows, easily passing through Squirtle’s protective shell and cutting at him.

     Squirtle’s cry of pain was drowned out as Seijuro called out, “ _ Quick attack! _ ”

     Electrike pounced, his fur almost a blur as it collided with Sableye, knocking it off Squirtle’s shell.

     The battle raged on like that for a few more minutes, no one team pulling ahead of the other. Gou wanted to crush those guys so bad, but it hurt her to see Squirtle and Electrike getting more battered as the battle continued - and she even felt a pang of sympathy when Sableye and Kricketune cried out as well.

     It had to end before anyone got too hurt, and Gou had a feeling she knew how to end it.

     “Follow my lead,” Gou whispered to Seijuro.

     He turned to her, having just instructed Electrike to use  _ Bite _ on Kricketune. Seijuro saw the fearsome gleam in her eyes, and trusted her. He nodded.

     She squeezed his hand, snapping her head back towards the battle. “Squirtle! Use  _ Water Gun! _ Get them all drenched!”

     Squirtle glanced back at her for a split second, as if to acknowledge her command, before he dashed forward, shooting water from his mouth. The first shot was a direct hit on Sableye, getting it right on the chest and soaking it's fur.

     Jumping to the side to dodge a  _ Shadow Ball _ , Squirtle then shot Kricketune, the spray leaving dozens of little droplets running down it's exoskeleton.

     “Now, Sei!” Gou shouted.

     Seijuro understood what she had set up for him - the perfect circumstance for a powerful electric attack.

     “Electrike! Use  _ Charge Beam! _ ”

     Squirtle jumped back, behind Electrike, just as Electrike unleashed a ball of pure electricity at the opposing Pokémon.

     Sableye and Kricketune could only widen their eyes as they saw their inevitable loss shoot at them.

     There was a blinding white light, which, when it faded, showed that both Kricketune and Sableye were no longer able to battle.

     Squirtle and Electrike cheered, with Squirtle running over to the electric type and pulling it into a hug.

     “Looks like I’m getting my bag back, boys,” Gou smirked, extending her hand out towards them.

     Yoshi and Krick could only stare in shock at their disabled Pokémon, completely fainted on the alley’s cobblestones.

     “Damn, cupcake, you sure know how to fight,” Krick weakly said, calling his Pokémon back into his Pokéball.

     Doing the same, Yoshi nervously ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah - you’re one tough bitch.”

     “The name’s Gou,” she corrected, eyes narrowing, “now, bag.”

     Yoshi tossed it at her, still slightly slack jawed. Gou caught it with ease.

     “Now get the hell out of here before we think better of letting you guys go so easily,” Seijuro said.

     They nodded hastily, quickly running back the way they’d come.

     Seijuro breathed out a sigh of relief, glad that the situation hadn’t escalated to anything worse.

     “Oh my God - you were great!” Gou gushed, throwing her arms around a very surprised Seijuro, much like her Squirtle had done with his Electrike just moments ago. He was so surprised that he’d almost dropped the sack of grapes that he’d just picked up off the ground after their battle. “I’m so happy you read my mind like that! We make the best team ever!”

     He tried to keep the blush that was suddenly crawling up his face hidden, and was thankful that the sun had set sometime during their battle so the dusk made it easier to conceal his pink tinted cheeks. “Yeah, we do make an amazing team.” He grinned down at her, wrapping his arms around her, “You were great, by the way.”

     Gou pulled away, suddenly shy, but didn’t let go of his hand. “We should, um - we should take them to the Pokémon Center, get them all patched up.”

     “There’s one across from the park,” Seijuro remembered, recalling Electrike into his Pokéball just as Gou did the same, securely pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

     They walked down the last few streets to the park hand in hand, turning into the Pokémon Center and handing over their Pokémon to Nurse Joy. It was only a few minutes before their Pokémon were nice and healthy once more, and the both of them found themselves out in the cool September air again.

     “I still can’t believe I got so ballsy all of a sudden,” Gou said as they talked about the battle.

     Seijuro laughed, “You seemed really sure of yourself in the moment.”

     “Which is why I’m so surprised with myself!” she exclaimed.

     “Big bro!”

     Seijuro felt himself freeze up. He recognized the voice - it belonged to someone he thought would be with someone else’s big bro, and hearing it meant that -

     “Seijuro -! Gou?” Rin asked from behind them.

     They both turned, Seijuro with a forced smile on his face and Gou seeming genuinely happy that they’d run into her brother and his friends.

     “Hey, Rin,” Seijuro politely said.

     “Brother, what’re you doing here?” Gou asked.

     Momo had already bounded up to the both of them, and had latched onto his older brother’s other arm, starting to babble about the great movie that they’d all just gone to see.

     “Well, Nitori and Sousuke suggested we go watch a movie after practice, and I mean, it was a lot of fun and -” his eyes widened when he saw that Gou and Seijuro were holding hands.

     “Rin, Momo, don’t take off like that!” Nitori called out, jogging to catch up with them. He blanched, seeing who Rin was talking to.

     And it looks like part 2 of the 3 part plan had just gotten blasted to smithereens.

     “Why are you guys holding hands?” Rin deadpanned, eyes narrowing.

     Seijuro was about to stutter out 101 apologies when Gou took a step forward, tilting her head to the side. “Why d’you think, brother? We’re on a date.”

     It looked like Rin wanted to choke someone.

     “You- you’re on a  _ what _ ?” he asked, his voice turning a bit shrill towards the end.

     “Rin, let’s get back to Sousuke, he’s probably looking for us,” Nitori interrupted, tugging on Rin’s sleeve to get him away from Gou and Sei’s date.

     “Oh! Brother, no fair, why do you get to go out with Gou?” Momo pouted, pulling away from his brother to cross his arms.

     “He doesn’t get to go out with Gou,” Rin snapped.

     Gou only rolled her eyes. “I’m not five, Rin. I can do what I want - besides, Sei’s a really nice guy, and we’ve been having a blast all day.”

     “She’s right, you know,” Sousuke said from behind Rin, finally having come upon the group. He flashed an apologetic look to Seijuro. When they’d said they’d keep Rin distracted, they really should have coordinated better to make sure that both parties would be in different parts of town. With a sigh, Sousuke turned to Rin, “You’re always telling me how Gou’s such a smart girl, capable of making her own choices, right?”

     Avoiding his best friend’s gaze, Rin mumbled out a huffed, “yeah…”

     “And, you’re always going on about how great Seijuro is,” Sousuke pressed.

     “I guess…” was Rin’s muttered reply.

     “Well, this is your sister’s choice, and from what you’ve told me, it seems like she’s made a good one,” Sousuke finished, crossing his arms.

     Rin was quiet, stubbornly looking at the ground.

     “So, we’re all going to leave them alone, so they can enjoy their date,” Sousuke slowly said.

     Rin was still quiet, refusing to answer.

     “Right, Rin?” Sousuke asked again.

     With what could only be called a slight growl, Rin finally let out a begrudging, “Fine,” before stomping off.

     “Hey, bitch baby,” Gou called out, not letting him get too far.

     “What?” He snapped.

     She took the sack of grapes from Seijuro, bounding over to her brother and handing them to him. “Take these back home, they’re the Kyoho grapes Sei and I picked earlier.”

     His eyes shined a bit at that, but he didn’t say anything as he took the sack from her, only turning to Seijuro and, in an uncharacteristically gentle voice, saying “Take care of her, okay?”

     Seijuro gave him a small smile, taking Gou’s hand in his own again, “Don’t worry, I will.”

     With a nod, Rin turned on his heel again, storming down the street.

     “I better go and make sure he doesn’t scare anyone,” Nitori said, watching him go. “Sorry we didn’t do a good job at keeping him away…”

     “Don’t worry, Nitori,” Seijuro smiled, “looks like Rin might not chew my head off after all.”

     Nitori only briefly returned his smile, before running off after Rin.

     Momo pouted some more. “Boo, I wanted to date Gou -”

     He was cut off when Sousuke wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Why don’t you go help Nitori keep Rin outta trouble?” It sounded like a request, but everyone knew Sousuke enough to know that there was no room for argument.

     “Okay…” Momo turned to his brother, shooting him a proud grin, before turning to Gou, “You’ve got yourself a good guy, Gou.” Then he also took off after Nitori and Rin.

     “Thanks for that,” Gou said to Sousuke. “I was kind of afraid Rin was going to cause a scene…”

     Sousuke laughed. “Rin might be an asshole and all, but he only cares about you.” He lightly punched Seijuro on the shoulder, “Good thing he likes you, too. Made this all the easier.” He turned to where he could see Nitori trying to get Rin to walk a little slower, Momo still not having reached them. “I think I should get going anyway. Have fun on your date.” He left them, waving as he walked after his group of friends.

     “I think that went well,” Seijuro smiled, feeling as if yet another crisis had been narrowly averted. “We still going to the park?”

     “Mmhm,” Gou hummed, as they crossed the street and got to the park. They walked quietly for a while, enjoying each other’s company before Gou started laughing.

     “What’s so funny?” Seijuro asked, already feeling like he was going to start laughing too - her laugh was just that contagious.

     “You got them to babysit Rin?” she said between giggles.

     Seijuro slowed his step, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. “I - ah, might have gotten them to help me keep this date going smoothly, yeah.”

     She laughed a little more, “Rei, Nagisa, and Makoto and Haru were also helping you, weren’t they?”

     He nodded, feeling himself growing red with embarrassment at having been caught.

     “No wonder they brought you up so much all week,” she mused. “I had thought it was a little strange that they rarely ever mentioned you then suddenly you were all they talked about.” She shrugged, “I didn’t mind talking about you though, so I guess I just never really paid it much mind.”

     “So...you aren’t mad?” he asked tentatively.

     “Of course not,” she grinned. “I think it's kinda sweet that you went through all this trouble to make sure our date went well.”

     Seijuro took a silent moment to thank the universe that he’d been so lucky to find a girl like Gou. She was literally the coolest girl he’d ever met.

     They walked by a group of kids with sparklers, playing and laughing and having a good time. Gou smiled again, that tender smile that made her face grow soft and her eyes twinkle just a little more. Seijuro hoped he’d be able to see that smile much more often.

     “Hey - there’s a really nice view of the lake over here,” he heard himself say, not even really sure how he knew. He just had a feeling that it’d be the perfect place to take her.

     They took a turn, walking a few minutes until they came to a small bridge that crossed to a small island in the middle of the lake of the park. They walked halfway across, stopping to enjoy the view.

     “You called me Gou back there,” she said suddenly.

     Seijuro wasn’t sure what she was talking about. “Did I?”

     She nodded. “Yeah, right before we started battling.”

     “I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized, “It won’t happen again, I know you like being called Kou-”

     “Don’t,” she simply said.

     “Don’t?”

     “Yeah, don’t call me Kou anymore,” she turned to him with a smile, “I like it a lot better when you call me Gou.”

     Then he saw it. That tender twinkle in her eyes. And with that came the bout of courage that had infused him days ago when he’d first asked her out on their date.

     “Thanks for standing up to your brother for me,” he said, voice suddenly a low whisper.

     “That was mostly Sousuke, I didn’t really say much,” Gou responded, taking a tentative step closer to him.

     He put his free hand, the one not twined in her fingers, on her hip, finding it exhilarating how perfectly he felt he fit there. “Sousuke did save me back there. He said a lot of things.” Feeling a little shy, he looked down. “Was he right?”

     “Right?” she asked, not quite following.

     “Yeah, about you making the good choice?” He felt all the color drain from his face, “Or have you not made a choice and I’m just reading things wrong or -”

     “Seijuro,” she said gently, putting her free hand on his chest. He stopped in his panicked mumbling, looking at her.

     He could see that she was blushing, something that made him want to pull her even closer to him.

     She got onto her tippy toes just then, as if reading his thoughts, and inched closer. “I’m almost sure I made a great choice,” she whispered.

     Seijuro let go of her hand, his hand doing what he’d done earlier and going to her hip to steady her. “How could you be 100% sure that you made a great choice?” he asked, voice small.

     Shrugging, she said, “Well, if my choice told me how he felt and I don’t know, maybe asked me -”

     “Gou Matusoka,” he’d been really tempted to say Gou  _ Mikoshiba _ , but felt that that would be pushing things a little  _ too _ much. However, he was almost as sure as she was that they would get there. “I really, really like you. You’re the coolest girl I know and,” he brought a hand to gently brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You’re just, beautiful,” he breathed. He took a deep breath, about to start talking about how he’d fallen in love with her as soon as he’d seen her, but once again, she stopped him.

     “I like you, too, Sei.” She averted his gaze. “A lot.”

     His hand hadn’t left her face, and when she said that he felt that the moment was perfect. He slid his hand beneath her chin, angling it up slightly. Her eyes were wide, and when his gaze flicked down to her lips, asking for silent permission, she nodded, ever so slightly.

     He slowly leaned forward, feeling her pressing against him as she did the same, when he brought their lips together.

     It was just a gentle brush of the lips, a tiny, chaste kiss, but Seijuro felt like it was everything he’d ever wanted and more. He suddenly felt hyper aware of everything - of Gou right in front of him, and the way she’d fisted both hands into the front of his shirt, and the cool night breeze. It felt beautiful, and he hoped he’d be able to do it again.

     Gou was feeling as if she hadn’t gotten enough. As soon as their lips had touched, she’d wanted to fling her arms around his neck and kiss him again, so when he pulled away, she was more than a little disappointed.

     He was grinning though, which made her break into a small smile.

     “Do you, um, Gou -” he stopped, trying to keep his stammering under control.

     She was smirking now, finding it amusing and cute that he got so flustered around her.

     Meeting her gaze again and taking a deep breath, he asked, “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

     She threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. “About damn time you asked me, Seijuro,” she laughed.

     He was so startled that she’d jumped into his arms - and so happy that she had accepted - that he did the first thing that came to mind; he wrapped his arms tightly around her, picking her up and twirling her around.

     “So, did you make a great choice?” he asked, gently setting her down.

     Gou grinned. “Mmhm, I definitely did,” she hummed, pulling Seijuro back to her, and punctuating her sentence with a kiss.

     Seijuro only had a split second to think that Nagisa and Rei would be ecstatic to know that now they’d helped another couple get together. Then he forgot all about everyone else, feeling Gou’s soft lips on his, and knowing that this was how he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> So, what'd you think? Did you catch all the 50% Off references? And wasn't Overprotective!Rin just the best? He can be a bit of an asshole at times, but c'mon guys, he's our lovable asshole.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading and I do hope that you guys liked the fic!


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